


Mistakes

by LoloxTheMuffin



Category: Cookie Run (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Kind of a vent fic, M/M, Possibly OOC (I tried), a bit of self-projection (sorry), platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29827926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoloxTheMuffin/pseuds/LoloxTheMuffin
Summary: Espresso isn't feeling too great, but luckily a friend is there to be there for him.
Relationships: Espresso Cookie & Madeleine Cookie (Cookie Run), Espresso Cookie/Madeleine Cookie (Cookie Run)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> To explain the 'kind of a vent fic' tag, I wasn't feeling too great and decided that writing for my favorite characters might make me feel better since I've seen others do the same. I really wasn't expecting to post twice today, much less multiple times in the same week, but I suppose this is just how it ended up.
> 
> I hope that this makes you feel better too, even if you can't relate to the whole situation.

Espresso paced around his workshop, the room lit only by the slivers of moonlight that snuck through the folds of the heavy curtains that hung before the windows. His heart beat fast, faster than it should’ve been. He was not in agony, but he was not happy, nor content.

He saw the results in his head. Pictured perfectly, for only him to see. No one else would know, and yet it upset him so. A spell that he was sure that he had down. One that he had learned about and expressed great promise in executing.

It went wrong.

Horribly, horribly wrong.

It had not caused casualty or injury, nor any great damage to his workspace. It simply… fizzled. It showed promise. It could have been done, but he was not focused. He believed that he was focused, that he knew all of the steps. So why did it go wrong? What had he done? Espresso glanced at his spellbook, knowing that he could check. He could see where he went wrong and know exactly what to fix. And yet he did not look.

How long had it been since that experiment? A couple of minutes? An hour? The sun was long gone, having given up on being in the spotlight, but he had no way of knowing when it gave out.

The sound of his boots tapping against the floor in sharp metallic clicks was all that circulated around the tower. His own lonely spot at the top of the castle where no one else would go without reason. He figured that he should’ve been calm by now; his mistake may have been costly, but it was not unreasonably so. He had weeks to make it up, to properly learn to cast the spell. Why did it bother him so much? He wanted someone else to tell him. A logical explanation to his unreasonable reaction. He could not tell them why, though; that would let them know that he was irresponsible, a failure to stay balanced. The mage knew that he was not a mess. He was calculated, observant, patient - these qualities allowed him to harness his power and influence so he could use it. The purpose? To help others learn from him; he was the first to figure out what he was being told so he could show the others. It was why he would often go first, and he would never make a fool of himself. His mistakes were covered, excuses made, barely noticed. And if they were, there was little fanfare about it - after all, they were not a big deal. He learned from them like anyone else.

So why did it bother him so?

Why did it make his teeth grind, make him want to shout his questions like an unruly child? He was not one who had gone through much strife. He was sheltered even in what little struggles he had. He was allowed these privileges so he could step forward and do something useful. So why could he not?

He was in this tower alone. He could yell if he wanted, and few would hear. And if they did, they would not bother ascending the lengthy staircase to reach him. Would they even suspect that someone like him could be this way? So silly in his reactions… Unfathomable in this worry that should have been set aside for it was not something to worry about.

Three knocks sounded from the door. Espresso stumbled, snapped out of the strange haze that he had found himself in, though the emotions still screamed at him from the back of his mind. He called, voice cracking, “P-Pardon? What brings you here at this hour?”

“It’s Madeleine. I told you that I was coming over, did I not?”

“I…” He had done that, now that he thought about it. Oh, dear, now he has failed again. He was supposed to clean up the shop in that time between spells. The time had been wasted procrastinating over nothing. Over his own emotions that made little sense. “Ah, forgive me, I-I will be there in a moment.”

With uneasy turning of the handle, the barrier between the mage’s workspace and the pathway down was opened up, sending a wave of cool, stale air into the large series of rooms. Madeleine stood high in elegant, simple garb. He towered over Espresso, head having to tilt down to meet the mage’s eyes. The pressure that seemed to emanate from his colleague’s figure had Espresso turn away, grimacing. The other frowned, unaware of what his presence was doing.

“Are you okay?” Madeleine asked, placing a warm hand on the mage, who noticeably flinched. “Espresso?”

Espresso took a deep breath, having to take long pauses to think about what he was saying; the words tumbled out in a jumbled mess. What a sad sight for someone supposedly so put together. “I… … am not in the right frame of mind. I do… not remember why you were invited here, but I don’t… think that I could entertain anything as I am.”

“Do you want me to leave?” The knight got no response. Espresso did not want to lie, but he knew that keeping the other here simply for… what reason? To calm him over this thing that he had been tormenting himself over for the last stretch of time? Why was he still thinking about it? It was over. Done with. “... What’s got you so worked up? Is it work?”

“... No,” Espresso exhaled into his hands, which he placed against his face. He nudged his glasses up so he could rub his eyes. “It was… a spell. A simple one.”

“It didn’t hurt you, did it?”

“No, nothing was broken. I…” In a rather undignified manner, Espresso’s voice spiked - it caught in his throat, threatening tears. Tears, over this? He supposed that he had already done so much wrong today; he may as well just not try to do anything else correctly. No, no, that was not how a teacher should think. He mumbled into his hands, “I feel… so stupid. Like an imbecile.”

Madeleine wrapped his arms around the mage loosely, and Espresso leaned into the knight without much thought about what he was doing. “You’re not, though. You’re one of the smartest cookies that I know,” Madeleine assured, voice gentle and kind.

“It is because of that that I should not have done it wrong,” Espresso tried to clear his throat and calm himself, but neither came to be. He whispered, “I have defied my own expectations, and they were not even set high.”

The commander fell quiet, then said, “You have time to fix it, right? You can get better at whatever thing you messed up on.”

Espresso hissed, “Perhaps, but I never should have failed in the first place!” he nearly shouted, surprising both of them. The mage seemed to shrink into his large cloak, slightly mortified. “I- I apologize, I should not… be burdening you with something, especially something so… silly…”

“No, no, it’s okay! Just… say what you need to, I’ll listen.”

“... I should not be this riled about something so simple,” he started quietly. He tried to focus on what he felt physically over the confusion that was imaginary as he curled some of Madeleine’s hair around his fingers. “It was just a spell that I knew… know that I don’t have perfected quite yet. I was close, but then it escaped me. I do indeed have quite a lot of time left before I would ever be expected to perform it in front of others, but for some reason…” he sighed, “For some reason, I cannot fathom that I could have ever done this badly in trying a spell.”

Madeleine thought about his response for a long while. “I don’t really know how to help you feel better,” he admitted at last. “But I do think that you should forgive yourself… Maybe not yet, if you can’t. Leave this spell of yours alone for a little while and then come back to it with a clearer head. It’ll probably go better that time.”

“I… suppose, yes. I shall keep it in mind,” Espresso pressed his hand against the bodice fabric of his dark dress, feeling a more gentle pulse than before. He glanced over at his coffee machine and Madeleine briefly broke away to grab it for him and place it in the mage’s hold. “Ah, thank you, though I could have gotten that myself… I also am feeling that a water might be better,” he mumbled.

“It’s not a problem,” Madeleine switched out the coffee mug with a glass of water and then patted Espresso on the back. “I can stay however long you need me to. How about we sit down?”

“That can be done,” Espresso nodded slightly, sipping delicately at the cool, refreshing liquid. The two sat together, backlit by the moonlight, hearts beating calmly in unison as they talked into the night until they both fell asleep.


End file.
